Poster Children
by TinyFancer
Summary: This is the story about rich kids, no, really. Two young twins dropped onto Ouran Academy, only to meet the academy's most famous club - Ouran Host Club. This story tells of their turmoil and changes that occur in their lives, especially of one of them. Mika, or was it Minoru? Mmm I cannot recall. Eventually female OC x Kyoya.
1. And so it begins

**Disclaimer:**

**I do not own Ouran High School Host Club and any of the affiliated characters, these all belong to the talented Bisco Hatori.**

**I do own the story and several characters that appear through and the art (if will appear).**

**General information regarding the story:**

**The story mainly takes place around Bunkyō ward in Tokyo, an educational center that holds many academic facilities like University of Tokyo as well as our beloved Ouran High School (for the rich and spoiled).**

**As a reminder, the currency of Japan (Nihon) is Yen (¥), 1 Yen is, at the time of writing these lines, $0.0097 (less than a cent), and 1 USD is ¥102.67. So in these terms, Haruhi's ¥8,000,000 debt is approximately $78,280 :)**

**Also another piece of general information - schools in Japan start at April instead of September.**

**Lastly, I warn you that the first chapter will be a bit confusing (unless you know things you aren't supposed to), but it shouldn't bother you, just don't give up :).**

**I'm not going to describe our main characters through the story in case you want to use your imagination, however If you are interested the cover for this chapter has an art of the main characters.  
If they don't look identical to you, it's the fault of my drawing skills.  
General information about the twins' can be found at the end of the chapter.**

* * *

White dress shirt, black snug pants, exact fit.  
Striped dark tie and a perfectly tailored light blue jacket that can make every boy look like a full-fledged gentleman… Not that every boy could get his hands on these clothes, probably only gentlemen could. Nevertheless, the statement remains valid.

''Excited?'', Noboru spoke to his twin, adjusting his tie.

''Terrified… And incredibly uncomfortable''

He snuffled, ''the shoes?''.

''Amongst other things, every step I take requires concentration. It as if somebody switched my legs with stilts'', the twin scowled.

''At least you aren't wearing heels'', he snickered.

''Mm… I'm pretty sure wearing heels can't rival what I'm doing right now… Though I cannot really attest to that''

''…'' Noboru lips tightened, ''And Mika? Can she attest to that?''.

''…No. No, she can't'' he answered shyly, ''but she's ok with it'', he said and smiled reassuringly at his brother.

* * *

"Lineage counts first; wealth a close second."  
- Ouran Academy's Motto

Ouran Academy, the most prestigious private school of Bunkyō ward, if not entire Tokyo.

A massive compound that provides education to the rich and famous, starting from childhood and up to adulthood. Exists to groom and school the leaders of tomorrow… and those who have money.

Lavish buildings inspired by mid-nineteenth architectural styles, shaded pink and stick out like a sore thumb. Making every passing-by commoner think to themselves ''damn those rich bastards''.

Ouran Academy values money, but more than that they value stellar family history and background. The more privileged the family is, the more the student is valued and (usually) ranked higher.

Class hierarchy is as following – 'A' class for the elite, 'B' class for those of lower pedigree rank, following 'C' class and 'D' class that consist mostly of children from Yakuza affiliated families.

* * *

Noboru was the first to speak, ''I've never seen so many people in one place, and everything's so… colorful and… big'', his face looked suffering ''I feel like a grey alien that crushed on planet-spectacular.''

''Are you sure it's big? Maybe that's how schools are supposed to be…?'' Minoru suggested, sharing the look of suffering with his brother.

''I miss being homeschooled'', Noboru winced, already imagining getting lost inside the gigantic pink maze. He signed, looking at a small map at his hands ''1-B… you think we'll find the class or we'll just end up being lost on the first day? ֹ''

''Maybe we should just give up now and return to the limousine'' Minoru replied, half-jokingly.

* * *

Noboru and Minoru are of the Housen family, who are relatively freshly rich. Relatively as in only second generation, however, if they would've instead attended Ouran in a year from now they would've ended up at the 'A' class since the family's wealth is expanding at an increasing rate.

Their father is Hotaka Housen, of Shizen Inc. A company for researching and developing "natural" medical drugs that even managed to develop a life prolonging medication against some trivial illness. He founded the company after he finished his biochemistry and physiology double degree and was the head of it from the beginning. From zero to hero as they say.

Hotaka is very possessive of his company, it is his greatest achievement. He refuses to pass it to anyone until the day he dies (''they would have to take it from my cold, dead fingers'') and when that happens, it will only be passed to a family member… This returns us to the original point…

* * *

''I really am not the leader type'' said Minoru.

''But you are the first-born-descendant type'' chuckled Noboru.

''Only to those who don't really know me… And what is the difference anyhow? We were all born pretty much at the same time''

''It's a matter of tradition… And that's not true, you and I were born on different days!'', he teased.

Minoru laughed lightly, ''oh! Now that I think about it, it explains why we are so different; we don't even share signs!''

''Mochiron*! I'm the more handsome, macho type. You are feminine and… WEAK'', he said with fake distain.

''Oh that's cute, you think you are better than me'' Minoru said with a teasing smile.

''Hey!'' Noboru felt stung.  
He was quick to taunt, but quicker to get offended, even if knew the other side was joking.

''I obviously agree about you being the handsome one'' Minoru said, saying to his brother's sad face ''however it seems the people around us are at fault for not seeing that'', he smiled and threw a wink at Noboru.

Their entire walk from the school gates was followed by whispers and female gossip, probably because seeing two seemingly identical people is a rather odd sight.

Minoru's facial expression turned complex, a bit troubled.

''...That's a good thing, shouldn't that put you at ease?'', Noboru asked.

Minoru nodded slowly and replaced his face with a more cheerful one, although this one as well, had a troubled undertone.

Just before class they suddenly stopped at place when their eyes met the eyes of another.  
Two sets of eyes to be more specific, identical eyes, belonging to identical faces, with almost identical hair and identical bodies. In front of class they met an abnormality, like them, in the form of two young pale males with amber eyes and light brown messy hair. The left male looked a bit irked.

After a short while of silent staring, the two groups broke eye contact and entered their respective classes, very awkwardly so.

As they entered, Noboru began scanning the class for a good seating place, ''I didn't suspect I would see other twins in our grade'' he spoke, accompanied by generic gasping and some giggling noises along with a few shy glances from overly-excited female faces.

Finding a perfect spot he scurried to sit, and then looked at Minoru confused as the neighboring girl squealed lightly.

As Minoru made his way to his seat a pen fell by his feet. He gently picked it up to return it to its' owner, the owner being a dark haired young female who looked baffled by Minoru's doing. He put the pen on her desk and smiled shyly, making her turn tomato-red.

He threw a confused face of his own towards his twin while taking the seat next to him.

* Mochiron – of course.

* * *

The beginning of the class brought upon the mandatory introduction of the twins, seeing they were new in the Ouran Academy. Quite a few stunned faces stared at them as they stood in front of the class, accompanied by a lot of whispering… about some Hitachi brothers?

Noboru almost fell asleep during class, and Minoru just spent it writing everything down, everything, including some side conversation he overheard during class.

''So which of you is Minoru and which is Noboru?'', asked a cute brunette who came up to the twins after class.

''I'm Noboru, he's Minoru'', answered Noboru honestly.

''And Minoru's the elder, right?'' asked another girl.

''Yes, and the smarter one'', he responded, smiling devilishly at his twin, whose face turned red at the remark.

''I'm sure you are as smart as well, N-Noboru-kun'', barged some short-haired girl.

Noboru looked baffled, ''T-Thanks, I… suppose'', he responded with an awkward smile on his face, eyeing his brother.

''They are _so_ nice…'' some girls whispered out of the twins' hearing radius.

''That was… Weird'', said Noboru to Minoru on their way to the cafeteria.

''When I read all those novels I didn't think people actually act like that in real life'', Minoru said horrified, ''it seemed so detached and shameless''

More whispering and giggling could be heard in the background, aggravating the twins' embarrassment even further, and some talk about Itachi…?

Meanwhile, at another section of the high school, female gossip…

''Have you seen the new twins?''  
''Yeah, I've heard they are really nice!''  
''I think the Hitachiin are cuter.''  
''Mm, maybe look-wise, but these two seem cooler…''  
''And a lot more… pleasant compared to the Hitachiin.''  
''I heard that guy… Minoru I believe… caught Moriko's pen midair and told her that she should get a more delicate pen, seeing that her hands are _so_ elegant.''  
''That is so cool!''  
''What? That doesn't make sense, how did he catch it midair? She just threw it up?''  
The girl shrugged, ''she told me she accidently dropped it while he was passing by.''  
''Accidently?'' the asker smiled and the rest of the girls giggled.

''Grrr… stupid girls'', growled a passing-by male student.

''Relax Hikaru, it's just a phase. These guys will be out of fashion in a week'' his identical tried to comfort him, though he himself didn't look too content since he just heard he isn't "pleasant".

''Why do I keep hearing about Hitachi? Is their stock suffering or something?'' Minoru questioned.

''Hitachi? I thought everybody is talking about Itachi*'', Noboru replied.

''What? Why would everybody talk about weasels? Somebody died?''

''I think there is a popular fictional character named Itachi, I could be wrong though…''

They shrugged in unison, deeming the subject unimportant.

Upon their arrival to the cafeteria they saw two tall handsome men, one blonde haired with exquisite violet eyes and the other pale and dark haired with graceful glasses adorning his already elegant face. They seemed important, seeing almost all of the female crowd were entranced by them.

''Oh look, I think that guy is the chairman's son.''

''Are you sure? He seems too fabulous'' Minoru asked with doubt.

''I saw pictures of him in the chairman's office, I can't however recall his name…''

- ''His name is Tamaki Suoh'', said a small-framed brunet young male, ''and that extravagant guy is indeed the chairman's son'' he said knowledgably but a hint of disbelief on his face, ''you guys are new, right?'' he smiled innocently, looking up at them.

'What's wrong with this guy? He is so fragile-looking, is he gay?' Noboru thought to himself, jumping to baseless conclusions.

Seeing his brother is deep in thoughts Minoru decided to speak up, ''yes, indeed. My name is Minoru Housen and this is my younger, silly brother, Noboru. Nice to make your acquaintance'' he then smiled and offered his hand for a hand shake.

The young male didn't seem notice Minoru's waiting hand and just spoke back, ''I am Haruhi Fujioka, nice to meet you…'' he smiled back ''Well I suppose I'll see you around then.''

He then left unexpectedly; completely unaware he left Minoru staring at his hand, feeling awkward and partially insulted.

_'Ugh, these people… Is anything I've been taught in manners worthless here?'_

''Who do you think he is with? He looks like he can take over the world'' Noboru pointed, blowing Minoru's thought bubble.

''The guy with the chairman's son?''

''Kyoya-kun, does the Host Club have anything planned before the Golden Week?'', the question was targeted at the pale man and came from a young lady possessing short brown hair.

''But of course, Kasugazaki-hime'' answered the young man, with a warm smile on his face, charming a few ladies around him.

''Kyoya… Kyoya… Why does that ring a loud bell?''

''Are you familiar with the Ootori Group?'' Minoru asked, his face looking serious.

''You mean that guy… is Kyoya Ootori? Yoshio Ootori's youngest son?''

Minoru nodded and Noboru sighed.

''Let the socializing begin'' said Noboru and straightened himself.

''Try and be charming.''

''I'm always charming'', Noboru smiled confidently as the two began moving towards their targets.

''Hello'' they spoke in unison ''Suoh-Senpai, Ootori-Senpai, nice to meet you'' and brought out their hands for a (hopefully replied) handshake.

The blonde guy appeared confounded, and then quickly became distressed, ''Ah, mommy! I think I might be coming with an illness, I'm seeing and hearing double'' he put his hand dramatically over his face ''I cannot afford getting ill, if I were to get sick I would have to disappoint all my lovely fans… it's practically a sin to lock off something so beautiful as myself'', he looked truly and deeply upset.

_'Mommy? Double?'_ the twins thought, looking lost _'this guy is… dense.'_

The pale guy fixed his glasses up his nose, ''you are seeing perfectly fine, these nice gentleman are Minoru and Noboru Housen, and are new to Ouran Academy. And on that accord, welcome to Ouran'', he said and took the boys' handshakes.

The twins tried to hide the surprise from their faces, ''that's correct, you are very well informed'' Minoru answered, mustering a charming smile whilst shaking Kyoya's hand.

''Seems like you do too, seeing you knew who we both are'', Kyoya grinned with amusement.

''What kind of people we would be without knowing of you two?'' said Noboru, faking humbleness, ignoring the fact they only learned of them a few minutes ago.

Minoru looked directly to Tamaki's eyes ''especially such a marvelous person as yourself, Suoh-Sempai.''

Tamaki put his hands on his cheeks, his eyes shining ''oh! My beauty has become so famous even newcomers know of me! Looking at your eyes I see your honesty, just shining through~ you must be a marvelous person yourself if you are able to evaluate my brilliance. I like you!'' he exclaimed and then grabbed Minoru's hand with both of his hands and shook them warmly.

Recognizing his brother strategy, Noboru chipped in ''Mochiron! It was important for us to meet you. In fact, due to the crowding of these lovely ladies we assumed that we will find you here, what a fortunate happenstance it is that we came across you'', he said wearing a sweet smile.

Tamaki looked like he was about to either faint or explode, like a coy maiden being courted by her crush.

''I like them, I like them both! They are so gracious and they know how to appreciate true beauty, I want to adopt them!'' he then jumped up in place and then sprung to hug the twins who were evidently rather uneasy.

''While you can't adopt us since we have a father we will gladly settle with being your acquaintances'' Noboru said, wriggling away from the blonde's grip.

The blonde looked like he had million thoughts going through his head.

He clapped his hands together, surprising the twins yet again ''I first thought you are as scandalous and disgraceful as the Hitachiin, but it's obvious I've misjudged you!'', he practically shouted the last part.

Suddenly a loud noise head from another part of the cafeteria as a tray of food was thrown forcibly to the floor by a pale young fella with annoyed amber eyes, the food splattered on the floor, his identical was irked as well but more than that was surprised.

''I am going to fix your damage'', Kyoya spoke to the excitable blonde fellow, referring to the scared ladies who got caught up in the situation, ''it was nice to meet you, I trust we will have more encounters in the future'', he smiled charmingly and left.

The loud blonde looked torn for moment and then decided to bid the brothers farewell and join Kyoya.

''Hitachi again? What is so scandalous about Hitachi?'' Noboru spoke first after a pregnant pause.

The twins shared a look, shrugged and then continued to buy themselves lunch.

* Itachi – weasel, in Japanese mythology the weasel is considered a bad omen, representative of bad luck and death.

* * *

The rest of the week was lacking events and slow moving, everybody were waiting for the Golden Week to start and the week-long vacation accompanying it. For a certain couple the week was even slower than most…

''Good morning Hikaru-kun, Kaoru-kun!'', a petite blushing brown-haired girl greeted the young boys, twiddling with her hair ribbons.

The young twins were antsy but had to polite since the girl was one of their few regular customers in the club they belonged to, ''Good morning Kozue-chan'', the boys answered, though their faces were not greeting, even looked bored.

''What are you going to – '' the female stopped talking realizing the twins weren't listening.

''Hey! Haruhi! Let's go to class together'', the two spoke in unison and glued themselves to the small, annoyed brunet boy.

The young girl's face fell, the twins were her favorite hosts, but lately they weren't as... hosting. She wondered whether it was because those new identical twins that arrived two weeks into school start, then she moved on to wonder what makes someone begin school two weeks in. She decided to investigate; maybe they would thank her later with… god forbid, a kiss on the cheek? She blushed ever so slightly and squealed to herself.

Meanwhile the Hitachiins passed upon an already familiar scene on their way to class.

''Good morning Minoru-kun, Noboru-kun'', they've just only gotten to classes area and were already greeted by a familiar dark-haired girl.

''Good morning Moriko-chan'', answered the new twins of the academy, wearing a warm smile.

And then the familiar scene changed to something that upset the devilish duo.

''Sumimasen*…''

Surprised at the delicate voice Minoru and Noboru turned to the source of voice.

''You are Minoru-kun and Noboru-kun, right?'', in front of them they saw a meek brown-haired girl, smiling shyly at their direction.

''That's right, and who, if I may ask, is inquiring?'' Noboru bended a bit to face the now surprised girl.

''Kozue Kitamikado'' the young girl blushed a bit and averted her eyes from the discomfort.

That's it, now they've went too far. Being constantly compared to these two for the past week is one thing, having these two praised by dono** is another thing (which they don't care for, at least that's what they told themselves), but stealing costumers from them? That's crossing lines! It has become from being pestering to entering their personal lives. Besides, everybody should know that the Hitachiin twins are the better twin duo.

Hikaru and Kaoru shared a short glance and nodded, rushing to both sides of Kozue, pushing her lightly behind them (while her face is practically burning from the fact her favorite twins touched her).

The Hitachiin each raised their right index fingers simultaneously, pointing at the faces of the other twins.

''We are sick of you running around like you own the place…'' spoke Hikaru to the now puzzled faces of the Housen twins.

''Therefore we challenge you…'' continued Kaoru.

''To a duel, until death!'' said the twins in unison.

''Hey, hey what are you doing?'', spoke now a softer voice who came from Haruhi who was now standing as a barrier between the two couples _'and there I thought over-dramatic actions were exclusive to Tamaki_', he thought to himself.

''Isn't it obvious? We are going to settle once and for all who are the better twins!'' answered the Hitachiin duo.

''Ugh, I'm sorry to be a party popper, but… Who are you guys?'' it was now Noboru's turn to speak.

This pissed the Hitachiin twins even more, who seemed to want to tear Noboru to pieces, ''are you seriously asking that?'' Hikaru now yelled at Noboru, ''we are Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin!'' they answered in unison again.

Minoru and Noboru were realization-stricken, and as if a bulb lit up in their brain they both said ''Ohhh, Hitachiin!''

_'That puts to context so many things we've heard about Itachi and Hitachi'_ was their next thought, and then...

''Wait, what?''

* Sumimasen – excuse me.

** Dono – lord, referring to Tamaki Suoh since he is the president of the club the Hitachiin twins are in.

* * *

**General character profile:**

**Minoru and Noboru are identical-looking twins; they both are 1.82 cm tall with shoes (about 6'0), dark blue hair and greenish-blue eyes and purple framed glasses. They close to 16 years old and are Virgo and Libra signs since they were born in a rather big time difference of almost 50 minutes and the sun entered a different sign at the time.**


	2. Double Whammy

**Disclaimer:**

**I do not own Ouran High School Host Club and any of the affiliated characters, these all belong to the talented Bisco Hatori.**

**I do own the story and several characters that appear through and the art (if will appear).**

**Warning: relatively long chapter.**

* * *

The Housen twins were trying to wrap their heads around what has happened.

Two stranger twins had just thrown down the gauntlet at their feet without them knowing what they have done to have earned it. Minoru stared at what now seemed like two illogical beings, asking himself how they could avoid a confrontation with them.

_"First and foremost I must make them lower the tones, attention is bad for us"_, the elder twin thought, fully aware of the growing gathering of piqued, bored, adolescences around them.

"What do you think will happen?" a young girl whispered to her friend.

"Do you think they might start fighting, like in the movies? That will be so _cool_" whispered another, putting her hands over her now red tinted face.

_"Give up" said one of the Hitachiins, his sculptured torso exposed to the harsh sunlight of the academy's courtyard._

_"Never, it's a matter of family honor, I will not let the humiliation go unforgiven" answered one of the shirtless Housens, tending to his fallen brother._

_"By waving off our offer you are putting both your and your brother's life at risk" said the other Hitachiin._

_"We are well aware of that" answered the second Housen, mustering all his will to get up._

_Then he looked dead into the eyes of the now frightened Hitachiins, elegantly wiping the beads of sweat on his forehead, and spat blood on the courtyard's floor. _

_"But we will not lose."_

A few girls squealed in delight, momentarily distracting the twins.

Looking for the right words to put out the spontaneously ignited fire, Minoru shifted his gaze towards his stirred up twin.

Suddenly Noboru looked as if he struck gold, and then, to his twin dismay, opened his mouth to speak.

_"Yabai*!"_

"We a–", seeing what was coming next Minoru hurried put his hand over his younger twin's mouth.

"Umm … We are sorry if we have done anything inappropriate" he completed the sentence for him, struggling to battle off his ego, "we are not used to daily interactions with other people since we were homeschooled our entire life, so please excuse us if we come off as ill-mannered or crude."

The Hitachiins were taken aback from Minoru's response, but only for a short second, quickly they were back on their toes, looking calmer yet… determined… as if they entered game mode.

"We know what you are trying to do, you are trying to make us look bad", Hikaru responded, crossing his hands.

"If you don't answer our challenge you'll lose by default", Kaoru continued, crossing his hands as well.

"Making you both cowards", they finished together.

"Huh?" Minoru and Noboru turned white as sheets, stunned at how the two throw words at them.

_"These sort of tricks work on low self-esteemed kids, not on people like us",_ thought Minoru to himself.  
Were those two thinking that they are really affecting them?

A quick look at Noboru will say that yes, they were affecting him, however by this point Noboru knew better than to play along with the bright haired twins.

As Minoru was about to decline he noticed the whispering around them, looking around he spotted a few disappointed faces… Could it be that this thing is putting their reputation in danger? Are the students here are just a bunch of gossiping sheep and in order for them to survive they need to play along?

By this point Haruhi, who was still between the two couples, decided to speak "that's enough Hikaru, Kaoru, not everybody is willing to play your games, you should just grow –"

"Fine, we'll do it"

Haruhi looked baffled, "Huh?"

"We will take up your challenge, whatever it may be" Minoru continued, fixing his glasses up his nose.

Haruhi's face quickly changed to a one of despair _"Aren't there any normal people in this school?"_

A devious smile crept to the Hitachiins faces.

"What kind of challenge do you have in mind?" Noboru asked.

The Hitachiins looked at each other. They were so focused on the situation that they neglected the part concerning the challenge. They realized acting on impulse was not the best of idea but how could they let the opportunity pass?

"I say we let the audience decide who the better duo is", Hikaru spoke after a short silence, voicing his thoughts, "how about the ladies?"

"We could hold a contest in which each pair needs to win over the ladies of this school, and at the end organize a vote to decide the better twins", Kaoru chipped in.

Noboru was, again, about to accept but Minoru intervened "Uh, we'll have to decline. Charming maidens isn't exactly our forte."

_"That. And the fact I'm not really comfortable with exploiting ladies" _he concluded to himself.

"And it isn't exactly fair", said Haruhi, "These guys here are members of the Host club, they have a reputation amongst the females of the school, it's a losing battle for you."

_"Host club?"_ the Housens thought, confused.

"I suggest you search for a common denominator so it would be fair for both sides", Haruhi continued, "like a hobby, or common skills."

"What common things could we have with them?" the four spoke up at the same time, each holding a different tone.

Haruhi looked suffering, his ears ringing from the vocal attack, "I'll leave it for you to figure", he responded with anguish, "It's too early in the morning for me to deal with this" he then turned on his heels towards the classroom.

Just then the school bell rang, calling the students to their respective classes. The crowd around them began to disperse, but the four stood still, oblivious to their surroundings.

"So, um… What do you like to do?" asked Noboru with a tint of embarrassment, feeling as if he was trying to court a girl.

The Hitachiins eyed each other, contemplating over the question. Nobody has bothered asking them that before.

"Well I guess we like to design clothes", Hikaru answered, cupping his chin with his fingers.

Joining him, his brother placed his fingers on his chin, "pranks."

"And maybe video games?" they said in unison.

"Video games?" Noboru asked with a smile, "What kind of video games?"

"Console games, handheld games, computer games", they answered simultaneously again, creeping the opposing twins.

"Although, ever since we entered the club we barely have time for it", Kaoru said with a sigh.

"Action? Adventure? Role playing? Shooting? Sports?" Noboru went over the most notable genres, to which the Hitachiin just nodded, mildly surprised.

"Strategy?" Minoru finally asked.

The Hitachiins looked like a light bulb lit inside their head, Hikaru then pulled out his phone from his pocket.

"What was the name of the strategy games club president?" Hikaru thought out loud, paging through his contact list.

"Let's see… Kenta…Takenaka? Tanaka? I know he belongs to 3-A class", replied his identical.

"I don't have him" Hikaru said dissatisfied.

"Even if you had… I'm having a hard time believing he would answer you now" said the nervous voice of Minoru, turning their attention to the surroundings.

As if they snapped from a trace the group became suddenly aware of the fact they were, by now, the only people standing at the hallway, and with that realization they began running towards class.

* Yabai – "this looks bad"

* * *

Four lessons later the Housen twins found themselves entering the cafeteria, and after picking themselves a nice meal they sat nonchalantly to one of the empty tables.

Just as they were getting comfortable two trays were planted with a thump on their table right across them, followed by the Hitachiin twins taking the seats in front of them.

"It's done" said the left Hitachiin, a devilish smile adorning his good-looking face.

"What is?"

"We've arranged everything" continued the right Hitachiin, "tomorrow at 4:00 o'clock at the 4th computer room."

Realizing what they were speaking of the twins cringed. These guys were persistent.

"Oh I take it we are still doing this?" Minoru said, "We don't have a crowd anymore, you could just say we've competed and you've won", there was not real value for them in actually going through with this.

The amber-eyed twins' smiles grew even wickeder at that statement, "we are fair people, we would never cheat our loyal fans" answered the left Hitachiin.

The Housens grew uncomfortable under the twins' eyes, "why not today then?" inquired Noboru.

"Their club is holding a meeting today. We couldn't convince them to move it."

The Housens shared a suspicious glance, "what game is it exactly?" Noboru asked.

"It's a real-time strategy*, called Guild of Champions"

Minoru and Noboru raised their eyebrows, "I never heard of this game, didn't they have anything familiar like Zen Wars?"

"Besides that game they had only turn-based** ones, which are no good since we have a life", answered the right Hitachiin plainly, crossing his arms, "if it makes you feel any better, we aren't familiar with it ourselves."

The Housens shared a quick glance; they needed to think fast if they wanted out of this, they had better things to do with their time.

"Seeing you are so persistent…" Noboru began, sneaking a smile to his brother.

"You should prepare to be humiliated", continued Minoru, adjusting his cuffs.

"We will not go easy on you"; said Noboru with a scheming glint in his eyes and a chuckle, "You should know – "

His words were interrupted by the sound of loud slurping coming from the unimpressed Hitachiins drinking juice through their straws.

_"Ugh, these guys"_

* Real-time strategy (RTS) is a strategy game genre in which the game is continuously moving, there is no pause mode and all of the actions and decisions the player make are made while the game's settings are changing in front of him. Notable games of the genre are the famous StarCraft, Warcraft series (excluding World of Warcraft), Age of Empires series, Command and Conquer etc.

** Turned-based strategy (TBS) is a strategy game genre in which a player is allowed a period of thinking before taking action(s), more like chess in concept. These sort of games usually have no time limit on turns and therefore take longer than RTS* to complete, especially when playing with amateur players. Notable games of the genre are Heroes of Might and Magic series, Civilization series, King's Bounty series etc.

* * *

"Prepare to be humiliated? Did you really say that?" Noboru let out a heavy sigh.

"Oh, boo-hoo, you were about to tell them we won a Zen Wars championship", retorted Minoru with an amused frown.

"I did no such thing!" he responded, stumbling over his own words.

Minoru chuckled, "you are so predictable sometimes."

* * *

Noboru groaned loudly from his swivel chair, stretching his arms high above his head. He has been stationary for so long he felt like his body has taken the shape of the chair by now.

They acquired the game first thing when they returned from school and even set up two game stations at Minoru's room. They didn't mind losing, but they didn't like the idea of being humiliated, and from how the Hitachiins were acting it was obvious humiliation was part of their plan. They have been testing this game for who knows how long and it has eaten all their homework and personal time.

Tick,  
Tock,  
Tick,  
Tock,  
A few hours may have passed, but the background noises were all the same.

The quietness and the darkness of the room were unnerving and Noboru felt like complaining… so he did.

"This game is so complicated, it has so many rules it is ridiculous", he waited for a reply and when it didn't come he leaned back in his seat, twisting his neck to look backwards to see his twin sitting still with his face turned away from him.

"Unko*?" he spoke again, spinning himself to face him.

He blinked, feeling the fatigue with every bat of his eyes.  
His eyelids were heavy and so was he.

Sighing he rolled his way to towards his inattentive sibling, "Unko? Did I piss you off with that comment about white chocolate not being real chocolate? You know it's true."

Still no response, "You are ignoring me over that? Hidoi yo*", he then leaned over to look at his twin's eyes, only to discover they were shut tight.

"… You could've said you were asleep."

After a momentary silence Minoru mumbled, "How could I have done that?" his eye were now half-way opened and directed at his awakener.

"…You could've answered instead of being a meanie butt."

Minoru's blinked a few times at his brother's unhappy face, and then burst with giggles.

"Meanie butt? God, you are tired if that's the best you came up with" he said with a sleepy voice.

Embarrassment was plastered on Noboru's face, "S-shut up" he stuttered, averting his eyes from his twin's laughing ones. His eyes fell on the wall clock, which was now reading 3:28.

"So what now?" he asked after his sibling stopped laughing.

They paused to think, but to no avail.

* Unko – childish way of saying turd/crap (like poo) that is commonly used as an affectionate nickname.

** Hidoi yo – This is cruel.

* * *

The next day came by fast, too fast to the twins' tastes.

Minoru's sleep-deprived mind was cluttered with thoughts of pillows and visions of monsters poking one another; Noboru's mind, on the other head, was empty.  
He was shamelessly (and discreetly) sleeping off the entire first four hours of the day, something the overly self-conscious Minoru would never be able to do.

"So cavalry are weaker to pikemen, which are weaker to archers, which in turn are defenseless against – "

"Please stop, this game is consuming my brain enough as it is", moaned zombie-Minoru, holding his hand to his forehead, "we will lose anyhow, I doubt those two were honest about their understanding of this game."

On the other end of the corridor a corresponding scene was taking place, only to be interrupted by a familiar brown-haired boy.

"So you are really going to do this?"

Kaoru and Hikaru looked at Haruhi questioningly; even though they were acting their usual selves Haruhi's keen eye was able to spot their weariness.

"Of course, we never turn down a challenge", answered Hikaru, avoiding the young male's big brown orbs.

"Need I remind you that you were the ones who issued the challenge?" said Haurhi, observing the twins, taking a moment to think. He then narrowed his eyes slightly as he understood something about the twins.  
"No, that's not it" he mused, "I think you are feeling like your position and uniqueness are being threatened by Minoru and Noboru, you are so used to being viewed differently that the idea of it stopping scares you."

He paused for a short second, unaware of the twins' uneasiness, and then smiled.

"People who like your company will not stop liking it because of them, like people who dislike you won't hate you more. You feel challenged to prove yourself but nobody is expecting it from you, you are still unique as people even when those two are around."

The twins stared at Haruhi attentively, their faces hiding complexes emotions…

Or perhaps not.

With a bat of the eye the twins moved closer to Haurhi and cupped their mouths, "BOO-BOO" they sounded, mocking a game show buzzer, "Zettai chigaimasu*! Time's run out and your answer is incorrect" said Hikaru.

"The correct answer is…" continued Kaoru.

"We just absolutely hate them!" they finished unitedly.

Haruhi sighed, "Hai, hai**", clenching to his homemade bento*** he continued on his way to the cafeteria.

The Hitachiins stayed behind, staring at the petite brunet walking farther from them.

They only knew him, no – her, for a short while of less than a month and already she was making them uncomfortable with themselves. She wasn't like other girls; she didn't want to stand out and didn't care about genders, that's why, among other things, she had no issue with posing as a male.  
She was very perceptive, but she wasn't anything more than a toy for them, no one was allowed to enter their personal world and they believed that no one could.

* Zettai chigaimasu – Absolutely not!

** Hai, hai - Yes, yes

*** Bento – a single-person portion meal common in the Japanese culture. A traditional bento packs rice, fish or meat with pickled or cooked vegetables, usually in a box-shaped container.

* * *

Classes have ended for the day (thank god) and Noboru along with caffeine-powered-zombie-Minoru started making their way towards the 4th computer room. They still had a little time, so they figured they would set everything up front and try to gain a little edge over the Hitachiins.

And maybe have coffee, with something sweet on the side.

As they entered the vacant computer room they were surprised to discover it was neither vacant nor much of a computer room. There were merely four computer stations (which was surprisingly the amount they needed), two at each corners of the room, few out-of-place round tea tables and matching chairs, some medieval-themed decor and lastly a big white screen with a ceiling projector turned to it.  
To complete the odd scene the room was filled with noises and quite a few people, most of which were not even Ouran students.

The two were confounded as for what was happening, was this the wrong room? They took a few steps backwards to look at the sign of the door from which they entered but the writing was crystal clear, "Fourth Computer Room".

"Customers? You are early", they heard a familiar voice.

Looking for the source they found it to come from a certain volatile blonde man they've met a few days ago, "Tamaki-Senpai?" they said together.

"Oh, the new twins!" he responded with a surprised smile, and then, a gasp.

"Oh, how could I have been so oblivious?" sudden sorrow took over his face, enhancing his already extraordinary good-looks. "You approached me so boldly that day, but somehow I've overlooked your heart's call" he said hugging himself and moving closer to the now horrified twins.

_"Is this a nervous breakdown?"_

"I should've picked it up sooner, the flattery, the smiles, the emotion in your eyes. Most men cannot look me in the face and are jealous of my natural beauty", he continued animatedly, invading their personal space along the way.

_"Should we call an ambulance?"_

"It's ok", he spoke softly, pulling out a perfect white rose. "I understand now."

Noboru opened his mouth to speak but Tamaki put the rose over his lips, "I know you are in-love with me."

The twins stiffened as distress took over them, "No, that's wrong!" they stressed.

"Then maybe… Kyoya?"

"We're not gay!" the twins exclaimed, sharing a look of disbelief, "not that there's anything wrong with that!*"

The fair-haired looked at them lost, "then what are you?" still obscenely close to them.

"We came here to play a computer game, but it appears we've misheard the room number" answered Minoru, moving his face away from the far-too-close princely character.

"Oh! The MAIN EVENT" he said in English with a distinguished accent, finally taking distance from them.

"Main event of what?" asked Noboru.

"Of today's Ouran Host Club session, but of course", he replied, his lips arching to a charming smile.

Recognizing confusion on the pale twins' faces he continued to explain, "Ouran Host Club is where beauty meets money, it's a place where the academy's handsomest guys, who have time to spare, give hospitality to lovely ladies who also have free time on their hands", he passed a graceful hand through his hair, "think about it as the academy's special game for the filthy rich and beautiful."

They took a pause to digest the information they just obtained and looked at the room.  
The bigger portion of the people in the room consisted of workers, however the rest of them were handsome male Ouran students, and out of them they managed to pick quite a few familiar faces.  
Hikaru? Kaoru? Kyoya? Haruhi?! Their eyes zoomed through each, and grew with each nameable person they saw.  
This was beyond absurd, what would these people be doing in a club such as this?

And then, they just cracked.

"WHAT?"

Their loud outburst diverted the rest of the hosts' attention to them.

"Tama-chan! Who are these people? Introduce them!" a flowery high pitch voice came jumping towards the twins, originating from a short young male with honey-blonde hair and gigantic chocolate eyes.

Minoru began craving sweets again.

The young boy was followed by a dark skinned human-mountain, his face were as if carved from stone, pleasant yet disturbingly stoic.

"These are Minoru and Noboru Housen, the new twins of the academy" answered Tamaki to the human jumping jack.

"Ehhh?" the small male stopped right in front of the twins, looking up to them with curious eyes, "they are just like Hikaru and Kaoru" he exclaimed happily.

"They are nothing like us!" barked the bitter Hitachiins in response.

The small male (child?) was now tearing up, "gomen ne** Hika-chan, Kao-chan" he spoke pitifully, stressing each word, "I just meant that they are twins as well."

"That was cruel, you should treat your friends better" said the obviously charmed Noboru, riling the fair twins even further.

The dark tall man put a comforting hand over the sobbing boy's head and in an instant he stopped crying and returned to his previous cheerful manner. He then introduced himself and his silent companion as Mitsukini Haninozuka (Honey) and Takashi Morinozuka (Mori) and went on to offer them tea and cake.

"Actually, is there coffee?" inquired Minoru, feeling a bit ungrateful.

"Of course" replied the voice of Kyoya from their side, "do you mind commoner's coffee?"

"Commoner's coffee?" asked Noboru, enticed, "as in the cheap 'instant coffee' that melts with hot water?"

Minoru lightly frowned, "I don't know, I'm not the adventurous type…"

"You'll love it! I'm practically addicted to it", Tamaki danced their way "it is actually quite amazing how quickly the grains dissipate, it's nothing like our coffee but it provides a good caffeine boost to those who don't have time."

"Well, I guess –"

"Haruhi", Kyoya snapped his fingers, alarming the petite brunette, "please make two commoner coffee for our guests", he ordered with a smile on his face and then turned to the dark-haired twins; "Make yourselves comfortable."

"Right away", Haruhi informed, making her way to the hot beverages table.

The Housens hovered over her shoulders as she poured hot water into two ornamented coffee cups, "amazing!" spoke Noboru right of the bothered Haruhi, "the grains dissolved immediately when they came to contact with the hot water, that's commoner wisdom right there" he said to his quieter brother who just nodded in agreement while Haruhi grinded her teeth to the all too familiar scene _"rich bastards"_.

After another half an hour the room looked entirely different. Green grass-like carpet was spread over most of the floor, two half tents with blue and red flags were set up above the computer stations, several white tents were raised to cover the tea-tables and Kyoya's station became an armory stacked with booklets and pictures depicting the Host club members in medieval outfits.

Most of the work was done by the hired workers, but some with the help of host members. Mori and the Hitachiins helped with decorations while Kyoya managed everybody's tasks. Honey and Haruhi were assigned to entertain the early guests, Minoru and Noboru. Having idle chats wasn't Minoru's thing, and although he enjoyed watching Noboru fawning over Honey's cuteness and his stuffed bunny, Usa-chan, he got tired of it quite quickly.

"Where are you going Mino-chan?" Minoru flinched at the disfiguration of his name, looking back towards to the doll-like (recently discovered) senior student. "I'm going to see if anybody needs help" he replied with half a genuine smile. He just witnessed the small sized teen eat a regular adult sized worth of sweets and was creeped-out, he wanted away.

_"I should find a better way to utilize my time here, seeing I cannot use it to prepare to the game"_ he thought, making his way towards a certain slender, suave dark-haired individual.

"Kyoya! I finished puffing all of the chair pillows!" shouted Tamaki, running towards his deputy "What now?"

Kyoya acted contemplating, "now that I look at it, it seems like the napkins at the hot beverage table are folded in an unsightly manner, could you take care of that by chance?" he said, with a face of importance.

Tamaki blinked a few and looked at the direction of said table, "Kyoya…" he spoke in a grave manner, "I couldn't have expected less from you, to spot such a nasty error" he put his hands on Kyoya's shoulders, "Don't worry I got it! By god, these will be the best presented napkins on earth!" He then ran off to refold the entire stack of napkins.

"Hello Minoru-kun" spoke Kyoya, observing Tamaki's intensive napkin folding action.

Minoru's eye widened in response, "how perceptive of you, how did you know?"

"It's nothing to be awed at, you two have entirely different personalities" his lips curving to a smooth smile.

_"Sneaky…" _Minoru mused, inspecting the older male's demeanor. Even though they were about the same height Kyoya's mannerism made him seem taller than Minoru, he was a really impressive person.

"I saw Haruhi arranging the napkin stack earlier, why did you tell Tamaki to redo it?" inquired Minoru, who was, by now, watching the vigorous blonde as well.

"Tamaki has the tendency to overdo things, so I have to give him pseudo-tasks so he won't harm anyone in his enthusiasm" he answered, a seemingly sincere smile took over his lips. "Last time he tried to be helpful he almost killed a worker" he continued, replaying the scene in his mind.

For some reason Minoru was surprised by dark-haired male's smile, he has known him only for a little while but the rumors of his calculating and cold persona already got to him.

"I didn't expect someone like you to be in a host club" the twin said, after a momentarily silence.

"Why not?" Kyoya turned his face towards Minoru, somehow managing to look down at him.

The Housen tensed, "uhh, I just didn't take you as the type of person to have patience to listen through female chit-chat" he rephrased his answer at the last moment.

Kyoya chuckled at the remark, "I wasn't aware I come off as an impatient person."

"N-no, that's not what I meant", why was he so edgy? "I know" Kyoya replied, his face bearing an amused smirk, "and I agree, that's why I'm not a host per-se. As the vice-president my duty is to manage the club's financial expenses."

_"Vice-president?"_ he tried to hide his disbelief, "What kind of financial expenses such a club has?" he immediately regretted the stupid question as he remembered he was standing in a replica of a medieval campsite, no school will fund such a ridiculous and expensive activity, "I-I mean, it's not like you take money for the activities, right?" he asked, regretting that question as well.

Kyoya seemed entertained by the twin's sudden change of character and speculated that it was because Minoru picked up (consciously or subconsciously) that he was observing him. Maybe he should mellow it down; it is in his interests to befriend the Housens after all.

"Of course we do, you don't expect us to pay from our personal pockets, do you?" he responded with a smile not fitting with the character of his answer.

"No, o-of course not", Minoru replied, confused by his own behavior, he was usually a calm person. Not a people person perhaps, but he still managed to converse fluently and act nice. Right now, however, he felt as if he was being recorded, and that he will be accounted for everything wrong he says or does; and that made him nervous.

"Speaking of which, would you consider losing the game on purpose?"

Minoru shot him a raised eyebrow.

* * *

Four o'clock came by and with it a flow of bubbly young ladies, all of them excited to see what their hosts had in store. It was unusual for the host club to host outside the third music room, and when they did it was always out of the ordinary. The guests were welcomed by king Tamaki in his regal medieval clothing, sitting on a royal spectator chair in the middle of the room, on his sides were Hikaru and Kaoru dressed as army generals and Haruhi in between them as the king's counselor, wearing a fancy jerkin, breeches and a feathered hat. All of their clothing articles were either blue or adorned with blue ornaments.

"Where are the rest of the hosts?" said a brunette in a confusion which spread to the rest of the girls. Were they not assigned to their hosts today?

After the flow of women stopped Tamaki stood on his legs, marching in front of the bewildered guests, he then spoke, "Ladies, I've come to be informed of a traitor among us, someone who seeks to throw me, your beloved king, off my throne." The female crowd gasped, "This is the reason we've all gathered here today. It pains me to speak these words, for I feel personally betrayed. My own flesh and blood, my kin!"

"I didn't know Temaki-senpai had a brother" whispered a confused girl, "do you think he's like Tamaki?"

"I don't like playing the bad guy" whimpered Honey in his sweet voice, waiting in a farther corner of the room, he was wearing an outfit similar to Haruhi's only with a red ornaments. The rest of the team was also draped in medieval clothing, all bearing the team's signature red in their designs.

"Don't worry Honey-senpai, I'm sure they won't think you are actually bad", whispered Noboru in response and Mori nodded.

While Noboru was enjoying himself Minoru was still confused about the situation, was he the only one realizing a crowd of girls will never be interested in watching a video game? Noboru was the type of person to go with the flow, but Minoru was tired and underprepared and this was certainly out of his comfort zone. He then returned to think of how the situation came to be.

_"Speaking of which, would you consider losing the game on purpose?"_

_"Why would I do that?" _

_"You winning could damage our profits for today quite a bit" Kyoya responded, fixing his glasses up his nose._

_"And why is that?" Minoru asked with doubt, he didn't mind losing but for some reason being requested to do so rubbed him the wrong way, "no, better yet, what is going on?"_

_"Oh? The Hitachiins didn't fill you in?" his smirk was gone, "typical." He then let out an inaudible sigh, "the Host Club, unlike most clubs, has activities throughout the entire week."_

_"When Hikaru and Kaoru came yesterday to ask to be excused from club activities I had to refuse since I take a dim view of people neglecting their predetermined responsibilities." His expression slightly changed, now holding an agitated undertone and Minoru couldn't help but contemplate over his cold attitude. _

_"Seeing how passionate the twins were I started suspecting they would start a riot if I wouldn't compromise, so I told them that if they could incorporate the club's activities with their new plans they could do as they please" he paused, "they, of course, had no idea how they could serve customers and still keep their new plans, but by chance Tamaki overheard the conversation" visible anger could be spotted on Kyoya's face, "and after a detailed explanation from the twins he came up with an idea to turn the next host club session to medieval themed event in which two enemy groups march into an imaginary war."_

_"Let me guess then, you want us in the opposing group" Minoru spoke, to which Kyoya replied with a yes. "So it's sort of us versus the host club?"_

_"No, it would harm your image if we team up against you. The host club will be divided to two in for this event, the 'bad guys' will consist of you, myself, Mori-senpai and Honey-senpai."_

_"Why you? Wouldn't it make sense position-wise that you would be playing Tamaki's counselor or something of a sort?"_

_"He claims our glasses make us evil looking and therefore more believable as villains", he was now evidently pissed off but wore a smile to contain his nerves, Minoru chuckled in response; it was funny how many emotions the blonde guy was pulling from Kyoya, and besides – deeming a person evil only because they wear glasses… that guy's like a comedian._

_"I see now, you want us to lose so it won't look bad that the vice-president beats his president. Tamaki is extremely popular as well; it will burst the bubbles of quite a few young ladies if his team were to lose."_

_Kyoya was taken aback by the young man's deduction, "those two together things may cause you to lose customers in the long run since it will diminish from Tamaki's perfectness and make you look envious." Minoru then smiled softly, "don't worry, I got it, I will try my best to lose."_

"I refuse to let this treachery go unanswered, today – we march to war!" Minoru snapped out of his line of thought.

"That's our cue", whispered Kyoya.

They went on to act a scene in which Kyoya opposed Tamaki and agreed on war. Honey quickly broke down after and went on to beg Tamaki for forgiveness, tears in his big eyes (this made quite a few of the female crowd to aww). Between each round Tamaki put on a fitting act, explaining eloquently the situation to the dazed maidens. Minoru even found himself impressed by him, _"so that's how you make a video game interesting for watchers."_

The girls who were less spoiled and interested on watching sat on scatter rugs that were placed throughout the center of the room, and those who wanted to spend time with their hosts sat with them inside the open white tents. The only exceptions were the twins' clients who were given seats next to the Hitachiins and were free to switch hosts if they wanted to.

Minoru couldn't tell Noboru about losing on purpose since it would only fire him up even more and make him try harder, so he decided to spend his game sabotaging his unsuspecting brother, who was surprisingly good at it.

He was so good that in spite of all of Minoru's efforts they came to a tie just one round before the end; there were an uneven number of rounds, so if Minoru were to screw it up they would win.  
No, they **HAD** to lose! He quickly thought of a plan to steal Noboru's in-game resources, and once he finished that, to attack one of the Hitachiin's camps at a clear disadvantage and lose. It will either seem like he lost of purpose or that he is a really bad player.

The plan unfolded perfectly and they did indeed lose to the Hitachiins, who were out of their wits with happiness. Noboru pouted, "You are such a bad player" he said to his brother, to which he replied "gomen, I'm just extremely tired, I couldn't focus." Noboru's mouth turned to a warm smile as he patted his older brother's head awkwardly.

After their lost Kyoya pleaded for forgiveness and swore his loyalty to the true king, Tamaki acted merciful and forgave the 'traitor' and the girls were ecstatic.

Minoru and Noboru stayed after the end to return their costumes, and as they were about to leave a voice spoke, "Minoru-kun." The addressed twin twisted his head to see Kyoya hinting him to come over, he signed his brother to continue walking while he began approaching the male.

"For a moment I thought you didn't have it, but you lost", Kyoya smiled charmingly, and raised his hand for a hand shake, "Thank you for your cooperation."

Minoru took the hand shake, and gave the opposing dark-haired a warm smile, "no problem."

* "We're not gay, not that there's anything wrong with that" – see The Outing, Seinfeld season 4, episode 17.

** Gomen ne – I'm sorry.

* * *

**End note**

**1. I based the Hitachiins' love for games on several shots depicting them playing video games by themselves, there is no actual word reference to the boys' hobbies throughout the series so I had to play with what I had.**

**2. A lot of the knowledge in this story comes from internet sources, so I'm sorry if there is anything inaccurate.**

**3. Although Haruhi will be referred to as a female in pretty much ****most**** of her appearances I would like to clarify that Minoru and Noboru are not aware of her gender, and that's why some of the writing might come out awkward.**


End file.
